


True Love Waits

by stilinskitrash



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, F/M, Love Triangles, Unrequited Crush, Unrequited Love, Unresolved Tension, post season one
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-02
Updated: 2016-09-02
Packaged: 2018-08-12 16:33:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 872
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7941472
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stilinskitrash/pseuds/stilinskitrash
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>And selfishly, she wished she had it in her to march over to the Byers house and announce her love like in one of those cheesy films Steve used to make her watch. She wished she was together enough mentally to have not messed things up with Steve, when there had been so much potential. Nancy Wheeler was no martyr, and despite not being a selfish person, maybe she needed some time alone.</p>
            </blockquote>





	True Love Waits

**Author's Note:**

> Title based off of the Radiohead song but the same name.
> 
> I really don't know where this came from, it's not that good I just like to imagine how different Nancy's relationships are with both boys. Maybe I'll do a similar Jonathan and Steve thing soon?

She didn't realise how much she missed him until he was really gone.

At first she couldn't place the emotions she was feeling at all. It was the comfortable silences shared between them, and the way their fingers brushed as they walked side by side down his drive. Or how her mother looked at her as the pair shared a joke at the dinner table at the Wheeler house, and the way she found herself just smiling at him when he was focused on something, and the way he knew tiny details about her.

Jonathan Byers remembered the day he met her, properly, when they were both just a bit younger than their brothers were now. She had her hair plaited into two braids, with tiny lilac ribbons on the ends and a dress of the same colour. Standing awkwardly in the hallway, she’d watched him as Joyce Byers picked up her very small brother for tea at the Byers. The two eleven year olds had regarded each other with interest silently, and as they left, she offered him a small smile. Nancy couldn't help but smile as he recounted the memory.

He remembered how she didn't like gingerbread, and how many spoonfuls of sugar she had in her coffee and tea. When Nancy found herself accidentally repeating stories to him, he didn't even point it out, and laughed as if it was the first time and Nancy was the funniest person in Hawkins, possibly the world. Jonathan was there for the nightmares and the days where Nancy felt too low to even leave her house, and he never questioned her.

Of course, her boyfriend, Steve, was special in his own way. Steve knew how to make her laugh so hard her stomach hurt, and how to bend her to his ways. He always came in to say hi to her parents when he came by to pick her up. He remembered their anniversaries without any prompts. He knew where to kiss and touch her to make her feel good. Steve Harrington was charming and caring and Nancy knew just how lucky she was, whether it be when he treated her to small gifts every now and then, or when he took her out, or even when he announced he was coming over and laid with her on the settee until they both fell asleep in each other's arms.

Looking back, she loved them both, separately, for these reasons as examples. And when her and Steve broke up, this became incredibly evident. Nancy already knew Steve’s reasons for breaking up before he said them. She was different, she was distant, she was distracted and they were seeing each other less and less. It was hard to explain to him that this was due to the emotional and mental toll the previous November, but she had appreciated his efforts to understand in the past months. So Nancy let him go; because she cared about him. Because she loved him.

And Nancy let Jonathan go, because she cared about him, even when she realised she did truly love him. She observed him silently as his confidence built in the months they grew closer. She noticed when he started talking to more people. She refrained from furrowing her brow as he saw her talk to a pretty girl with large round glasses and a voluminous fringe in the hallway. And she watched on as their relationship blossomed, and Jonathan was someone else's and felt further away than ever. But she let him go. because she cared about him.

It wasn't a secret that Jonathan had liked Nancy, and Nancy wasn't oblivious to this. So watching him now with the girl with the glasses seemed like some kind of cruel irony. She couldn't help but wonder why Jonathan had never spoken up about his feelings in the past. But Jonathan was Jonathan, and Nancy was with Steve, so it wasn't that hard to piece together.

She couldn't tell him how she felt, no matter how strongly or how her heart fluttered when he smiled at her like she was a middle schooler with her first crush again or how happy she was when he had the time to call her. Seeing him look so happy, with someone else but Nancy, seemed like the highest priority. So Nancy tried to move on too.

Four short dates later she realised forcing it was futile, and she’d have to wait until her hormones subsided and her mind cleared and she could really think. All the while, Jonathan and Steve walked around the school campus in full eyesight and Nancy knew she’d really gone and fucked up by falling in love with two guys, both at the wrong times.

And selfishly, she wished she had it in her to march over to the Byers house and announce her love like in one of those cheesy films Steve used to make her watch. She wished she was together enough mentally to have not messed things up with Steve, when there had been so much potential. Nancy Wheeler was no martyr, and despite not being a selfish person, maybe she needed some time alone.

And maybe things would start to work out.

**Author's Note:**

> Idk if this deserves kudos but hmu if u want pals


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